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Thursday, 17 March 2016

ℚ Playing Defense: Corrigan Falls Raiders [2] - Cate Cameron

Today we have the pleasure of meeting up with author to talk about Playing Defense (, Entangled: Crush, 178 pages), a Young Adult Romance , book two of Corrigan Falls Raiders series.

Author Q&A | Synopsis | Teaser | The Series | About the Author | Tour Stops


A very warm welcome to Cate Cameron; thank you for joining us on BooksChatter!

What was the inspiration for Playing Defense?

"This is the second book in the Corrigan Falls Raiders series, and honestly, it was inspired by Chris Winslow, a minor character in the first book, the male lead in this book.  I liked him so much when I was writing Center Ice that I wanted to write more about him, and I needed to find a female character who’d be a good match for him, but not so obviously perfect that there’d be no conflict, and Claudia was born.  Everything else just fell into place."
How much of yourself is reflected in this book, and how?
"I think there’s a lot of me in Claudia – I was a smart, bookish student, not shy so much as overly serious and not too interested in small talk or a lot of the standard social rituals.  But I never formed a Sisterhood of Awesomeness, like Claudia does, and I never got to fall in love with a hot OHL player, so my teen world wasn’t quite as adventurous as hers turns out to be."
The first thing that draws me to a book is its cover. Can you tell us about your cover for Playing Defense - why you chose that concept and who the artist is.
"I honestly have very little input into the covers at Entangled.  They’ve both been really cute, but… they haven’t had that much to do with the story!  I think they suit the mood of the books pretty well, in that they’re both fairly light, fluffy teen romances, but – nobody ever goes skating together, and Center Ice is actually set in the summer time, not the winter!"
Ah, I must admit, from the covers I did expect it to be in a cold wintery location and for ice skating to be a significant part of the story since the couple are ice skating on both covers! :-P

Why should we read Playing Defense and what sets it apart from the rest? What makes your book unique?

"I work really hard to write books where you don’t have to turn your brain off in order to give your heart a bit of a workout."
Who would you recommend Playing Defense to and what should readers be aware of (any warnings or disclaimers)?
"I think this is pretty good for anyone who likes fun teen romances.  If you’re looking for something deep and dark and angsty, this isn’t going to do it for you, though."
If you could / wished to turn Playing Defense and the Corrigan Falls Raiders series into a movie, who would be your dream team?
"Hmmm… Chris is too young to fit Chris Hemsworth since he became a celebrity, but I bet a teen Chris Hemsworth would have been a good casting choice.

Well, I just googled that, and maybe not.  There’s a clip of teen CH on some Australian teen show about Queen Guinevere, and… Chris has really grown into his looks. (How’s that for diplomatic?)

So I’ll have to get a bit more mythical on this, and say Chris Winslow should be played by young Chris Hemsworth the way you’d imagine young Chris Hemsworth to be.  All muscles and ranginess and easy smiles and good humour."

OK, LOL, I had to share those very early clips from 2002 where Chris Hemsworth played King Arthur and most of his face was covered by long brown hair (!) - I think it was the clips, not poor Chris... hence a few pics from 2004 below which should fit the bill ;-)


I’d love to see Kristin Kreuk as Claudia, except Claudia’s supposed to be a sort of quiet, unnoticed kind of girl, and I can’t imagine anyone overlooking KK for long."

What do you like to write and read about?  Do you stick to a particular genre or do you like to explore different ones?

"I read almost anything and everything, but I tend to write at the fluffier end of things.  I started in m/m romance (as Kate Sherwood) and within that category I experiment a bit—SFF, comedy, drama, action, etc.

As Cate Cameron, writing m/f romances, I’ve so far been more limited—just contemporary fairly light novels.  But I’d like to experiment more, for sure.  Maybe it’s time for another pen name…"
What is your writing process?
"I start at the beginning and write through to the end.  I generally write pretty fast (although I find promo and editing way more exhausting than writing fresh words, so I tend to be a lot slower with that stuff).  I keep trying to be an outliner, but I have trouble making it stick."
What is in store next?
"The third book in this series, Winging It is due out… sometime.  I’m not sure when, but I’m working on edits now.  It follows Toby Cooper, another Raider, and his love interest, Natalie West.  The two of them grew up playing hockey together and were best friends, but drifted apart when Toby’s hockey career took off and Natalie’s didn’t.  Now, she’s got a crush on Toby’s cousin and wants Toby to go along with her plan to get the cousin’s attention… but Toby may have different ideas!"

Playing Defense
Available NOW!

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